Josh Hamilton’s rehab tour continued Saturday evening at Double-A Frisco, where the 33-year-old slugger smacked four singles in five at-bats and drove in one run as the RoughRiders fell 15-14 in a barn-burner against the Astros’ Double-A team.

Hamilton played center field in this one — for a full nine innings — and that could be where he gets regular playing time when he returns to the majors given that Rangers center fielder Leonys Martin has struggled mightily with injuries and ineffectiveness.

Before the game Saturday at Frisco’s Dr. Pepper Ballpark, Hamilton once again addressed his messy departure from the Angels. And he revealed something pretty interesting. Tom Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News has the story …

Hamilton spelled out in no uncertain terms that he tried on a number of occasions over the last two years to speak to [Angels owner Arte Moreno] about his hitting problems and other issues but was repeatedly told by general manager Jerry DiPoto that he would deliver the message.

“I wanted to talk to [Moreno] and tell him, ‘I’m working my butt off and want to be the guy that played against you all these years,’ but I was turned down by the GM and the team president. They said they would let him know,” Hamilton said.

“Same thing after this incident [his offseason relapse] and the [shoulder] surgery. I did what I needed to do to be a responsible man and employee and reach out to him. So my hands are clean.”

It’s a little difficult to entirely buy the “my hands are clean” part, but shame on Moreno if he truly refused to have a conversation with Hamilton. How does that help the lack of mutual trust? It only grows it.

Hamilton will play another game at Double-A Frisco on Sunday and then head to Triple-A Round Rock for games Tuesday and Wednesday. He could re-debut for the Rangers on Friday at Yankee Stadium.

This is a quick look at lineup spots by team through the first five weeks of the season, which have been the most productive and which have been the least. I’m just using OPS, so don’t take this as a study of any sort.

The Marlins and Yankees are the lone teams getting a .400 OBP from the leadoff spot this year, and while that’s always been the ideal to shoot for, there’s hardly any chance of any team staying that high all season. Last year, only the Cardinals (.369) and Astros (.353) had even .350 OBPs from the leadoff spot.

No. 2 hitters
1. Reds – 1.084
2. Blue Jays – 1.001
3. Angels – .939

league avg – .751

28. Rangers – .560
29. Braves – .551
30. Brewers – .489

The Reds started off with Joey Votto batting second, and he was awesome, amassing an 1.173 OPS with a .474 OBP, six homers and 15 RBI in 17 games. So, of course, they dropped him back to third. Fortunately, Zack Cozart and Marlon Byrd have been pretty great in the two hole themselves, but that’s not going to last.

And the Mariners are all Nelson Cruz: he’s started every game in the cleanup spot and blown away the field.

What’s shocking, or at least would have been over the winter, is that this is the first of four appearances for the Angels in the bottom trio. The cleanup spot used to be Josh Hamilton’s. Now it’s 16 games from David Freese, 12 from Matt Joyce and five from Kole Calhoun (whom they much prefer hitting leadoff).

No. 5 hitters
1. Rockies – .949
2. Athletics – .949
3. Cubs – .846

league avg – .737

28. Angels – .614
29. Phillies – .588
30. Yankees – .576

Just because of the difference in hitting environments, Oakland’s .949 is more impressive than Colorado’s .949. They’re primary No. 5 hitter, Ike Davis, is at .867, but Stephen Vogt has provided quite a boost, with five homers in eight games batting fifth.

No. 6 hitters
1. Yankees – 1.023
2. Royals – .930
3. Dodgers – .869

league avg – .722

28. Cardinals – .549
29. Red Sox – .546
30. Reds – .535

The Yankees being dead last at No. 5 and way out in front at No. 6 is some sort of bizarre fluke. Brian McCann, primarily the No. 5 hitter, has a respectable .704 OPS in 21 games there, but Carlos Beltran (.407 in seven games) and Chase Headley (.435 in four games) have been horrible, dragging it down. On the other hand, both Beltran (.848 in nine games) and Headley (.824 in nine games) have been just fine as No. 6 hitters and they’re further bolstered by Chris Young (1.271 OPS, four HR in seven games) and Alex Rodriguez (2.528 OPS, three HR in three games)

No. 7 hitters
1. Dodgers – .933
2. White Sox – .828
3. Orioles – .787

league avg – .658

28. Red Sox – .434
29. Rangers – .425
30. Angels – .423

It’s the third of four appearances for the Dodgers in the top three. This one is truly a committee. Juan Uribe has started 15 of 32 games as a No. 7 hitter, but he has a modest .668 OPS. Alex Guerrero, Andre Ethier, Yasmani Grandal and Joc Pederson have combined for 15 starts and hit .444 with five homers in 54 at-bats.

Boston, which entered the year with seemingly the game’s deepest lineup, shows up near the bottom for the second straight spot, courtesy of Mike Napoli, Shane Victorino and Allen Craig. Their No. 7 hitters have combined for seven RBI in 33 games, five of them coming in Daniel Nava’s six starts.

No. 8 hitters
1. Reds – .932
2. Dodgers – .898
3. Marlins – .846

league avg – .673

28. Diamondbacks – .474
29. Angels – .392
30. Cubs – .297

The Reds take the cake for the most inconsistency by lineup spot this year. They top the list at No. 2 and No. 8 while also being last at No. 6 and next to last at No. 1. They don’t have any lineup spot in the .700-.800 OPS range. Their presence here is Cozart doing Cozart things, with some help from Brayan Pena. Even Skip Schumaker went 3-for-5 with two RBI in his one game batting eighth and he’s 4-for-27 with no RBI over the rest of the year.

The Cubs at No. 30 gets a big asterisk here; they’ve exclusively gone with their pitcher batting eighth. For the record, their No. 9 hitters have a .630 OPS.

We’re taking the NL teams out of this mix and just looking at the AL squads. Oddly enough, the Angels top the list; their No. 9 hitters, mostly Johnny Giavotella, have a higher OPS than any of the spots from No. 3 through No. 8.

All the positive, optimistic quotes about how good Josh Hamilton looked at the Rangers’ extended spring training complex have given way to him going 1-for-7 with three strikeouts through two minor-league rehab games at Triple-A.

Hamilton hasn’t played since October and is making his way back from February shoulder surgery as well as drug and alcohol relapses, so a couple tough games is no big deal. Still, it seems pretty clear that he’ll need a while to get back into game shape following the trade from the Angels to the Rangers.